music industry event in Toronto Tuesday night

[Mr. Musicface]

Hey folks, of possible interest to the musicians on the board. I've talked to Larry a couple of times, he's very insightful and generous with his advice and insights.

Where: Third Floor Reilly's 340 Yonge Toronto, ON

When: 8:00 pm Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004

Price: $8, (416) 593-4252 for details

Canadian editor/music critic for Billboard Magazine, Larry Leblanc, wants to help those basement rock acts emerge into the garage. If you are an artist, band or songwriter needing the inside scoop on where the Music Industry is heading, don't miss this event. You'll discover:

-The role of artists as Indie acts and with major/small labels

-Why so few acts are being signed to major labels

-The best way to get your music distributed

-Digital subscription services vs. downloading/file sharing

-The future of Radio and emergence of Satellite & Internet

-Role of print media in the coverage of artists and its potential to utilize that coverage

-How to get reviewed in Billboard Magazine

Larry LeBlanc, Journalist/Broadcaster/Researcher has been a leading figure in Canadian music for three decades. Larry has been associated with the New York-based music trade Billboard since 1991. He is currently its bureau chief for Canada. He was the co-founder of the late Canadian music trade, the Record. His byline has appeared in such publications as Rolling Stone, Guitar Player, and MacLean's. He has been extensively quoted on music issues in hundreds of publications including Time, and the New York Times.

from http://www.toronto.com/profile/877083/

Peace,

Mr. M.

[bradm]

I won't be there (living in Ottawa as I do), but I'd be interested in his thoughts on what it means for a band to allow audience taping and uploading/downloading to/from archive.org. For a new band (as opposed to an established band like Phish or The Grateful Dead), does he think being taper-friendly is a good thing or a bad thing? (I have my own opinion on this , but I'd be interested in hearing about it from an industry insider.)

Aloha,

Brad

[Mr. Musicface]

Interestingly bradm, when Larry was on an industry panel a while back, bald guy in a blanket asked a question sort of along this line, so I'll try to paraphrase. I don't remember the exact question, but it was something to the effect of whether the panel thought the evolution of industry toward the show being more the product and releases being more the support to bring people out to the shows (I believe he used the examples of The Dead, Phish, DMB, etc.) rather than the other way around was something they saw as a valid way for indie acts to operate... or something like that. There were various answers from the assembled (mostly record company A&R guys incidently) who hemmed and hawed a bit, but Larry had I think the best answer. He talked about the fact that there are lots of folks who are certainly not rock stars in a traditional sense, but are making a great living out of playing live and selling CDs independently in regional and niche markets all over the place. He talked about releasing things like live recordings on websites as a way to promote things to your fanbase and grow your audience for your live shows, merch, etc. and that becomes your major income stream. I don't think he talked about tapers specifically, but based on his other comments I think he'd see that as an extension of growing your audience and that sort of thing.

As I said I'm paraphrasing quite a bit here 'cus this was like two years ago and I certainly don't remember his verbatim response, but I think the gist is right. He's a very smart guy who's seen a lot of evolution in the music business.

- M.

[Jaimoe]

Is Uncle Seth going to play that night Jay?